TOM WARRIOR is open to resurrecting CELTIC FROST for 'one or two shows' in memory of MARTIN AIN
10-12-2021
Tom Gabriel Fischer (a.k.a. Tom Gabriel Warrior) says that he is open to the idea of resurrecting CELTIC FROST for “one of two shows” in memory of bassist Martin Eric Ain who died in October 2017 after suffering a heart attack at the age of 50.
The former HELLHAMMER/CELTIC FROST and current TRIPTYKON singer, guitarist, and main songwriter discussed the prospect of a CELTIC FROST comeback in a new interview with Heavy Culture. He said: “I have talked to the original drummer of CELTIC FROST, Reed St. Mark, who lives in America. He’s still one of my best friends. And we’ve talked about maybe doing one or two CELTIC FROST tribute shows in memory [of] Martin Ain. We haven’t really finalized these plans, but maybe we’ll do that one day, that we’ll play with just ex-CELTIC FROST members who were in CELTIC FROST at the time and maybe play a full CELTIC FROST set that incudes all the eras of CELTIC FROST and maybe play one or two festivals and also record it as a memorial to Martin Eric Ain.”
Fischer, who played with Ain in both HELLHAMMER and CELTIC FROST, added: “We all think you cannot reform CELTIC FROST ever without Martin but we could maybe do one or two memorial shows for him.”
CELTIC FROST reformed in 2001 and released its comeback album “Monotheist” via Century Media/Prowling Death in 2006. The band broke up in 2008, with Fischer going on to form TRIPTYKON.
In a 2015 interview with DCHeavyMetal.com, Fischer stated about CELTIC FROST: “If I had my way, CELTIC FROST would have existed for many more albums. Unfortunately, certain people’s grand designs on their own fame and certain egotistical stunts interfered with that. And, eventually, the band became so unworkable that I personally said the only option that was left was leaving it.” At the time, Tom said that a CELTIC FROST reunion was “impossible.” He explained: “I mean, there’s no more animosity between me and Martin — we just met, actually, a few weeks ago, as we do from time to time — but I think that window has closed. Even though Martin once said, ‘Yeah, we’ll play music together again,’ but after that gargantuan disappointment, I don’t think I wanna set myself up for yet another one. CELTIC FROST was my life, and losing that twice wasn’t very easy. And I don’t trust these people anymore. I invested so much time and so much of my personal money and effort and my songs and my production and everything into the ‘Monotheist’ album, and I did this because I believed the band could exist for many years. Then I felt betrayed and stabbed in the back. And I really… If I would ever get involved with that again, it would probably end the same, and I don’t wanna do that.”
In a 2011 interview with BigMusicGeek.com, Tom was asked at what point he realized that his tenure with CELTIC FROST was once again coming to an end. “To be quite honest, I had sensed it for some time,” he replied. “I just didn’t want to admit it.
“CELTIC FROST was much more than just a band to me,” he continued. “It was my life, my ideology and pretty much represented my entire being. Of course, I didn’t want to see it destroyed again, so despite having all the inside information, I tried to disrupt its destruction and probably stayed too long even though it was fairly obvious that I couldn’t face the band. Actually, I blame the final drummer of CELTIC FROST for the destruction of the band. If Martin has any part of this, it’s his inactivity that opened the door to this. He simply did not want to involve himself in anything negative, which, on one hand, is commendable, but on the other hand, it’s simply not realistic in this world or within a band that works under pressure 24 hours a day. You simply have to be a man and be involved, especially if certain personal conflicts threaten the whole band. Martin was initially reluctant to become involved and that basically opened the door for one person to let his ego run freely until there was really nothing left of the band.”
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